Indonesia to unveil national crypto exchange by June

• The crypto landscape in Indonesia could see a national crypto exchange before the end of June this year.
• Indonesia initially planned to launch the crypto bourse before the end of 2022.
• The government says the cryptocurrency exchange will include five active and licensed platforms.

Indonesia is set to roll out its national crypto exchange in the next few months, the country’s Trade Ministry has said. 

As previously reported by CoinJournal, the country indicated it would be launching the exchange this year. The latest crypto news on the subject as highlited by a local news outlet, is that the Indonesian government is looking to have the crypto bourse ready by June 2023. 

Currently, crypto assets trading in Indonesia falls under the purview of the Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency.

Indonesia’s growing crypto landscape

The new timeline comes after new developments (authorities suspended the licensing of new exchanges) and other official delays forced the relevant government bodies working on the project to push the launch from the originally envisaged rollout of December 2022. 

But December also saw lawmakers in the House of Representatives pass the Financial Sector Development and Reinforcement Bill.

The bill, referred to as the omnibus law, is now Indonesia’s primary legal reference for the broader financial services industry. Among the areas covered in the new law is the regulatory oversight of crypto exchanges. 

At the moment, a review of digital asset exchanges earmarked to join the national crypto exchange is ongoing. Per the latest report on the matter, the government has identified five active, registered exchanges from a list of 25 for the role.

Commenting on the upcoming bourse, Indonesia’s Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan said there’s need for everything to be done to ensure all is set before launch. According to him, rushing the project could end up with a scenario where the public who are still learning about crypto trading get harmed by the very project designed to protect them.

Indonesia is one of the countries with the fastest growing crypto communities. As recent research by CoinJournal showed, the country ranks among the top by percentage of population owning cryptocurrencies.